Payroll & Tax Services

Benefits and Deductions

The Benefits and Deductions section within Payroll & Tax Services handles the reporting
and payment of deductions which are being taken from Employees' compensation. Detailed
deductions records can be found on the employee portal on the Pay Information link
under My Employment Information:

Insurance

Important Reminder: Please check your earnings statement monthly to make sure that
your insurance deduction information is correct. This is especially important at the
beginning of a new plan year, after you have made a change to your coverage, or if
you are a new hire and your premiums are being deducted for the first time. For information
on enrollment, plan options, or changing insurance coverage, visit your Human Resources
website:

Insurance premium deduction information feeds electronically from Employees Retirement
System (ERS) into the payroll system. Changes to your payroll deductions will be effective
on the payroll processed after information is received from ERS. On occasion, it may
be necessary for a bill to be issued or additional deductions to be taken from a paycheck
for missed premiums depending on when premium information is received and when coverage
is effective. Insurance refunds are processed weekly based on when the information
is received from ERS.

If your insurance has been cancelled or reduced for non-payment of premiums and you
want to find out if your coverage(s) can be reinstated, please contact Human Resources.

If you have not received your Health insurance card(s) and your coverage is already
in effect, contact your insurance provider: www.ers.state.tx.us.

Insurance Premiums while on Leave

All leave must be reported by the department (Leave Form) timely to avoid late paperwork
charges.

If the employee is on leave but still receiving pay for any day during the month, Texas Tech will be responsible for the collection of the employee portion of the
premium(s) either by deductions from pay received or issuing a bill to the employee.
The department will be charged the regular employer portion of the premiums for the
month.

If the employee is on leave but not receiving pay for any day during the calendar month, the employee will be placed on a leave status with ERS for the month(s) in which
no pay is issued.

FMLA Leave (Full Calendar Month)

The employees will be responsible for the employee portion of the premiums. The department
will be responsible for the employer portion of the premiums. ERS will send a bill
to the employee who is responsible for making payment directly to ERS.

All other Leave types (Full Calendar Month)

The employee will be responsible for both the employee and employer portions of the
premiums. ERS will send a bill to the employee who is responsible for making payment
directly to ERS.

Return from leave

It is crucial that the department submit a form indicating the employee has returned
from leave as soon as they are notified of the return. This will allow both our system
and ERS to be updated to show the employee has returned to active status. Once the
employee has been returned to active status, deductions will resume being taken from
the employee's paychecks.

Late Paperwork

Failure by the department to report the leave status of the employee timely or mistakes
in reporting leave dates could result in the department being responsible for both
the employee and employer portions of the premiums

Summer/Between Term Insurance

Faculty, TA's and GPTI's who receive pay over nine months: If you are enrolled in
insurance and have out of pocket premiums deducted from your paycheck, these out of
pocket premiums for the summer months will be pre-deducted from your March, April
and May earnings.

All other employees paid over nine months: If you are enrolled in insurance and have
out of pocket premiums deducted from your paycheck, you will be billed for these premiums
for the summer months if you are placed on leave without pay with benefits for the
summer months.

Departmental charges for the employer portion of the insurance premiums for all employees
will be processed during the summer months.

Retirement

Mandatory Retirement Types for Benefits Eligible Employees

All public higher education employees employed in a position that is eligible for
the Teacher Retirement System of Texas (TRS) are automatically enrolled in TRS on
their first day of employment. Full-time faculty, librarians, and certain professionals
and administrators employed in public higher education are eligible to elect the Optional
Retirement Program (ORP) in lieu of TRS before the 91st day after becoming eligible.
The decision for those eligible for ORP is a one-time irrevocable choice.

Teacher Retirement System of Texas (TRS)

TRS is a defined benefit plan and a qualified governmental retirement plan under the
provisions of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code, Section 401(a).

Refund of TRS Account

Once the form has been completed and notarized, it should be mailed directly to TRS
using the address located on the top of the form. If you would like to know the status
of your refund once it has been mailed to TRS, you may contact TRS at 1-800-223-8778.

If you terminated within the past 6 months from the time you send your form to TRS,
Texas Tech Payroll Services will complete an online certification of your termination.
TRS will contact Texas Tech to request the certification once they receive your TRS
6 form. Payroll cannot certify termination to TRS until your employment termination
has been processed by your department and your final deposit has been submitted to
TRS. These certifications are done around the 10th of the month following the month
in which your last check was issued.

For example, if your termination date is March 31st, your final check would be in
April (April 1st for monthly paid employees and April 10th for semi-monthly paid employees).
The report containing the deductions for your final check would be sent to TRS on
the April report during the first week of May. Your certification would be completed
around May 10th.

Work hours allowed for TRS working retirees who are limited to working one-half time
or less:

Month

Allowed Number of Work Hours

Number of Workdays in Month

September 2017

84

21

October 2017

88

22

November 2017

88

22

December 2017

84

21

January 2018

92

23

February 2018

80

20

March 2018

88

22

April 2018

84

21

May 2018

92

23

June 2018

84

21

July 2018

88

22

August 2018

92

23

Texas Optional Retirement Program (ORP)

The Optional Retirement Program (ORP) is an individualized retirement plan in which
each participant selects from a variety of investment products offered by insurance
and investment companies that are authorized by the employing institution. Tax-deferred
contributions made by both the state and the employee each month are sent by the institution
to the selected ORP company to purchase annuities or mutual fund investments authorized
under Section 403(b) of the Internal Revenue Code.

Texas Tech does not have information on your account such as investments, balance,
growth, losses, etc. You will receive statements from your ORP companies that provide
this information. Companies send out statements at different times, monthly, quarterly,
semi-annually or annually. You will need to contact your company to find out how often
their statements are generated.

Elective Retirement Plans

Texas Tech does not have information on your account such as investments, balance,
growth, losses, etc. You will receive statements from your TDA companies that provide
this information. Companies send out statements at different times, monthly, quarterly,
semi-annually or annually. You will need to contact your company to find out how often
their statements are generated.

403(b) Deductions

Elections and updates to contributions can be completed online on the ERS Website

For more information, please contact your Human Resources office.

Texa$aver 457 Program

Deduction information feeds electronically from ERS into the payroll system. Changes
to your payroll deductions will be effective for the pay period beginning on the first
of the month following the month in which the changes are processed by ERS.

Garnishment

Payroll Services facilitates withholding for the following garnishment types:

Child Support

Spousal Support

Bankruptcy

Tax Levy

Guaranteed Student Loan

The withholding for these deductions is dependent on the court orders and notices
from the respective outside agencies. Any changes to the amounts being withheld from
your earnings will have to be initiated by the agency which submitted the original
orders.

Miscellaneous

To start, change or stop the deductions listed below, you will need to contact the
organizations directly. Once a change has been made, they will forward the information
to Human Resources for processing. Generally the change will be effective for pay
periods from the first of the month following receipt of the form by Human Resources.

Your parking deductions can be pre-taxed, which means your federal and FICA taxes
will be calculated on earnings after your parking deduction has been taken. If you
wish to sign up for this benefit, speak to the Parking office when setting up your
payroll deductions.